Local Breweries Compete to Craft Official Beer of the Space Needle

Posted on Tue, 01/31/2012 - 7:57pm

Lucky us! We've been invited to a special event atop the Space Needle today, where 10 breweries from around Puget Sound are hoping to see their product selected as the official beer of the Space Needle’s 50th Anniversary. The chosen brew will be served at Sky City (the Space Needle’s restaurant) and at other celebratory events throughout 2012.

In case you haven’t read our February cover story yet, this year marks 50 years since Seattle’s 1962 World’s Fair, when the Space Needle opened to the public, Elvis stormed Seattle Center, Seattleites lined up to ride the “Bubbleator” and, according to our very own editor-at-large Knute Berger, “the future came to town.” Seriously, read his fascinating essay on the notable innovations Seattle’s World’s Fair represents, despite some of its more kitsch memories it left behind (see: Bubbleator).

We’re double-pleased to be attending the beer tasting event tonight: 1) we’re the exclusive magazine partner of the Space Needle’s 50th Anniversary and 2) our Craft Beer issue was really tasty—I mean—fun to make. So what could be better than combining a ride to the top of the Space Needle with sipping a few locally made craft brews? Aside from riding in the Bubbleator with Elvis. (That one's a given.)

Here’s a list of the breweries taking part in the contest tonight. We’ll announce the winner on Twitter and Facebook tonight – and follow up with more details tomorrow.